The Siege of Fire
by DuHSPaZZiNGFeL
Summary: An epic tale of the road to the Fire Nation. Battles are fought and the story gets twisted when old enemies come to aid the gang. What about the Avatar State? Slight Kataang. Chapter 6: The Resistance
1. The Attack

**Disclaimer- Avatar is owned by Mike and Bryan. To bad for me...XD**

**AN: This story will be 5 chapters long. Every chapter will have a "previously on avatar", to help you figure out if you read the previous chapter or not. (Even the first chapter has that.) The story begins 2 weeks after the end of season two and NO, it's not my own version of book three because a season is 20 chapters, not 5. This fanfic is just a short story of mine that I think I should share with you.**

**But if I were to make my own version of book three, the beginning would always have this:**

****

**Book Three: Fire**

**Chapter One: The Awakening **

**(Something like that. You get my drift.)**

**Now on to the reading!**

-

**_Previously, on Avatar..._**

_"There's too many of them..." _

_-dream version of Guru Pathik-_

_"The only way, is to let her go."_

_-back to present-_

_"I'm sorry Katara."_

_-cut to Aang in the Avatar State and being suddenly being shot with lightning-_

_-cut to Azula smiling-_

_"You've got to get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"_

_-cut to Katara healing Aang-_

_"We've done it Zuko. It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has finally defeated Ba Sing Se. When you return home, father will welcome you as a war hero."_

_"But I don't have the Avatar. What if father doesn't restore my honor?"_

_"He doesn't have to Zuko. Today, you restored your own honor."__  
__-cut to the gaang on Appa-_

_"The Earth Kingdom...has fallen." _

-

"Katara?"

The water slashed the air as Katara commanded it. She completely ignored her brother.

"KATARA!"

That was it. The louder and louder Sokka called, the more she became annoyed. She bended the water more furiously as he came closer and called once more.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, SOKKA?!"

Startled by her sudden outburst, he just starred at her blankly. "You haven't been acting yourself. Is anything wrong?"

There was an awkward pause between the two siblings.

"I..."

He cut her off, "You know you can tell me anything."

"Just..."

"Katara, I know it's hard for you, but I'm sure Aang would be able to heal faster if you weren't acting this way. No matter what, there's always going to be this memory. Whatever you do, whatever you try, it's still going to stay."

Katara looked at Sokka questioningly. "Why are you telling me this?"

He sighed. "Look. I might be pushing it too far but, I can tell when something is wrong. Katara, you're acting worse then after mom..." He stopped when he saw Katara's saddened expression. "Aang will be alright. Don't you forget it. He's the Avatar after all. But, what exactly happened to him that would make you this way?"

Sokka turned to look at his younger sister with a concerned look on his face. After a few minutes, she finally responded.

"I..I can't. It's too horrible."

Sokka was taken aback. Something told him he shouldn't push any further. "Katara?"

"Yea."

"Just...he'll be fine."

After he left she felt a pang of guilt. _I should've told him. _With that, Katara stood up and walked over to the camp.

-

Suddenly, there was screaming and the sound of fighting.

"TOPH! GET KATARA! NOW! AANG'S IN TROUBLE!"

"No. I'm not leaving you alone to fight all of these.."

"GO!"

Swords were heard clashing and the heat of fire was felt over a mile away. Just when Katara reached the camp, Toph came crashing into her.

"SUGARQUEEN! WE NEED HELP! The Fire Nation's found us and Aang is fighting and.."

"What?! Aang?"

"Please. Just come and hurry."

Both of them ran like maniacs and came to the midst of a terrifying battle scene. In the center, there was Aang, in his airbending stance as he slashed at the incoming hoard of soldiers. Sokka was by his side, tossing his boomerang back and forth as each ball of fire came toward his face.

"Aang doesn't have much strength left, I can feel it." Toph spoke as Katara began to refill her water pouch from the water in the nearby river.

She stood up. "Then, we better hurry."

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard and all that was seen was a falling Avatar. Sokka frantically turned around and began to shout, "AANG!"

Both girls saw this (in Toph's case, felt). Toph's eyes widened with horror. "No."

Sokka fought furiously and took down soldiers with his machete. Around Aang, the soldiers started to surround him, but at that momment, Katara and Toph barged in. Water pulled the terrified soldiers to the trees and rocks and stone moved in clever patterns. Sokka used one man's power against him and deflected the fireball that was launched at him with his boomerang, causing the fire to bounce back and strike at the man.

When the final blow was struck, Katara quickly ran to Aang. The soldiers retreated into the forest.

All three of them heard a silent groan.

"Aang?" Katara said to him gently, "Are you alright? How's your back?"

"K-Katara? Katara. It's okay. I'm fine."

Sokka proudly stated, "See Katara? I told you so."

-

Azula was proud of herself. She defeated the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. Of course, it was all because of her brilliant plan. _Who knew? I can defeat a whole city in one night._

Then, a knock was heard on the throne room door. The two intimidating doors opened wide. A Dai Li agent entered the room.

"What is it that you want?" Azula leaned forward in her chair.

"Princess, General Fong is requesting an urgent audience with you."

"Very well. Bring him in."

The doors opened yet again and kneeled in front of Azula.

She put on a waiting look. "You know well, General Fong, that I am very busy. I have other things to do, but if this a waste of time, I _will _be rid of your services to me."

"N-no."

"Well?"

"Princess Azula, the Avatar has been spotted."

**AN: Of course you can guess the next chapter.**


	2. Seige of Ba Sing Se

**Disclaimer- Avatar is too awesome to be made up by a lame-y like me.**

**AN: I'm sorry this was late, I was supposed to update yesterday, but my computer was down and my Internet didn't work. I really wanted to type this out, but here it goes. This chapter has a lot of fighting and talking, so if I miss anything, tell me.**

_

* * *

_

_**Previously, on Avatar...**_

_Suddenly, there was screaming and the sound of fighting._

_"TOPH! GET KATARA! NOW! AANG'S IN TROUBLE!"_

_"No. I'm not leaving you alone to fight all of these.."_

_"GO!"_

_-cut to Toph and Katara-_

_...a loud crash was heard and all that was seen was a falling Avatar. Sokka frantically turned around and began to shout, "AANG!" _

_Both girls saw this (in Toph's case, felt). Toph's eyes widened with horror. "No."_

_-cut to the throne room of Ba Sing Se-_

_"You know well, General Fong, that I am very busy. I have other things to do, but if this a waste of time, I will be rid of your services to me."_

_"Well?"_

* * *

The palace was filled with frantic soldiers and Dai Li agents. Azula, Mai and Ty Lee were all in one room planning on their next move.

"How can this be?!" Mai _actually_ looked afraid. "I thought I killed him!"

Ty Lee began to respond hesitantly," We all thought you did too but I guess..."

"DON'T INTERRUPT!"

The green and gold room rustled with fear as the two friends backed up from the rage of Azula.

"If the Avatar was able to survive my attack, then apparently...we'll just need more force, now do we?"

An evil smile began to caress her face. "There's no place left to hide."

-

"We need a plan." Sokka told the others, "We need Ba Sing Se."

"You think, Snoozles? What exactly are we supposed to do; knock on Azula's door and beg for the city? I _really_ don't think so."

Sokka furiously began to point his finger at the blind earthbender but was "happily" greeted by a stub in the toe. "OW! TOPH! WHAT THE HECK WAS _THAT_ FOR?!"

"Gee, I wonder?", she responded in a sarcastic tone. _Maybe for being a complete freak of an idiot?_

Their surroundings were near Ba Sing Se, although the two kept arguing like an old married couple, Aang and Katara had their own conversation.

As the heat of summer filled the air, green and delicate leaves moved within the sturdy branches of trees. The grounds of the earth became dusty with the season, making every moment feel stale. But almost in the heart of the small forest lay two friends.

"Katara, I'm sorry." The airbender looked over to his side.

"For what?", she responded.

"Everything."

A sense of utter confusion troubled Katara. "Be more specific, Aang."

"Like...I almost let the whole world down! I didn't defeat Azula, I didn't save Ba Sing Se. I wasn't strong enough, I'm a failure."

"No. You're not. Stop telling yourself these things, you know it's not true. Besides, that's why we're here Aang; to give the world a second chance. There is a new beginning for us. We can do this, all of us. I know we can."

"You don't understand! The last time we tried it, I failed! There's no point in turning back now!"

"Aang, this is wrong. This isn't the real you."

He shouted angrily, "Well you weren't exactly yourself after we left Ba Sing Se!"

Katara felt a tight knot in her throat. He was right after all. Who was to blame? She knew that it wasn't him. She knew it and refused to taint the fact. "I..."

Aang sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No...Aang. You're right. I wasn't myself, but that gives us no reason to loose our hope. It wasn't just your fault. It was mine too. But the world needs us now. You need a firebending teacher."

"Katara, who?"

"I know just the right person.", she replied with a smile.

"C'mon. Let's enter Ba Sing Se."

-

It was the evening and the group was preparing for their plot to ensue for the following day. The Earth King, who was mostly kept out of everything, including the Fire Nation attack of just a few days ago, sat very near the fire pit.

Toph spoke, "And how exactly is that going to work, Twinkle Toes?"

"Well, we just have to make a little drill of our own."

"How many times do I have to tell you?! STOP RESONDING TO THAT! It's not manly!", Sokka began to fling his arms up and down and the rest just turned his way with their eyebrows raised in honor of his random comment of the moment.

"Ugh...Sokka," Katara began to say, "At least Aang doesn't have a necklace, _or_ a ponytail."

The whole group, minus Sokka, bursted out with laughter.

"Snoozles, hitting on the cactus juice?"

There was just more giggles after that.

Aang began to re-tell his idea after their so-called break. "Well, anyways. As I was saying...Toph and I could earthbend a hole through the wall. The only problem is being inconspicuous."

"Well I can wip-up some cover." Toph smiled.

Katara shook her head, "No. Why can't we just go underground?"

"Because, little sister," Sokka stated wisely, "Going underground would require more handiwork for Aang and Toph. Going straight through is less work for us. Besides, we all need to conserve as much energy as possible just in case we face some...trouble. We covered being unnoticeable, now how about covering up the hole?"

"Easy, Snoozles. All you need are two earthbending masters."

-

Morning finally arrived and all four were ready, well, the Earth King didn't really count. The sun lifted of the rocky horizon and they all knew that it was the beginning of yet another day, that is, to fight for Ba Sing Se.

They decided not to use Appa in order to keep the element of surprise. So, they quietly ran through the branches of the forest until they reached an edge. Sokka turned around. "Okay Toph. How long can you hold the cover?"

She responded in a taunting way, "As long as you can carry that boomerang, Snoozles."

Suddenly, the earth began to rumble with might as the hands of the blind girl shook. She released the force onto the earth and the rumbling sound caused a cloud of dust to rise.

She nodded to her companions, "Let's go."

And so they sprinted across the landscape. "TOPH!", Katara shouted, "The cloud is disintegrating!"

"I'm on it, Sugarqueen!"

Again, the ground shook and more smoke rose off it. "C'mon! We're almost there!"

They just ran even faster, they had a time limit after all and couldn't afford to stay they for more than 24 hours. When they reached the wall, Toph released another dust cloud to give them more cover as it takes time to earthbend on a wall as thick as Ba Sing Se's.

Aang and Toph both pushed their arms forward and the rest just watched as the wall quickly became thinner and thinner.

"There's no way we're going to re-claim this huge city. I mean, we're here for that, right?"

"No Sokka," Aang replied, "We're here to retrieve something we need. Besides, it's practically impossible to get Ba Sing Se back at this time. We need to wait for the right moment, and it's not today."

Toph joined into their conversation, "Twinkle Toes is right. We don't have much time anyways."

Right in her place, she froze.

Katara looked at her curiously, "What's wrong?"

The earthbender reeled back and widened her eyes. "STOP! There's something on the other side!"

The rest of the group looked at each other with fear. Who could it be? Who was on the other side?

"I-I don't know who it is. The vibrations...are...weird."

"What..?"

The wall vibrated and out busted a hole and on the other side...

-

"Well look what we have here? The Avatar. Welcome back."

Standing in front of them, was Azula and the Dai Li. "There's nothing you can do now. You're surrounded Avatar, and frankly, you cannot escape."

Katara looked at Azula angrily.

"Dai Li, eliminate the intruders."

And so the battle began, with the Dai Li prancing forward for attack first. In a straight line, they released their earthy gloves. Toph exploded them with the contact of her fists. Airbending strikes flew from place to place as Aang flipped over five agents and sprang into the air. There was something that needed to be done.

Katara and Azula caught each other's eyes in the midst of the battle. With fury the princess shot her first strike at Katara in the form of a twisting blue flame ball. Katara ducked and brought her waterwip to wrap around her enemy's leg. She pulled and the other fell. As she sat up Katara yelled, "You _know_ what you did!"

"You mean the little lightning I pulled off on your friend?"

The waterbender just looked even more vexed than before. Azula smirked, this is just what she wanted. Sokka stopped in his tracks, he heard the whole thing. He bellowed, "You _WHAT_?"

Azula looked at him and spoke, "It seems like the watertribe fool has it all figured out."

"Katara, is she telling the truth?!"

She sighed and looked sadly at her brother. "She almost _killed_ Aang." Toph also heard. She widened her eyes. "Oh you're going to get it!", she moved forward with her fists behind her back and the ground began to crumble.

"Er...AH!" Sokka flung out his boomerang.

-

He was enclosed by a hoard of the Dai Li. They attacked him with their rock gloves and two caught his clothing. "AH!" He was pulled back but swiftly destroyed the rest of the flying gages.

"It's time to give these guys a cool down." With that, the pond behind them rose into a giant wave and splashed onto his target.

Once Aang turned around, his eyes caught sight of another fight going on, between Katara, Azula, Sokka and Toph. They needed his help.

-

Currently, Sokka just took out his machete and was blocking some of Azula's assaults. Toph was creating an earthquake and shooting up boulders from the ground. The firebender was just dodging everything, from jumping over stones and redirecting fireballs. There was no stopping her. With one flip at a time, Katara did an aerial over the wooden bridge and gathered the water below into her fists. She surrounded herself with a circle of water and started to use the octopus form. But Azula deflected every move she made, that is, until one of the tentacles grabbed her arms. She attempted to firebend but the flames were drowned out by the water around her hands. But Azula struck back, using the only weapons she had left, her legs. A white hot flame cut through her watery chains. As she prepared to attack Katara, an air blast caught her flying to the other side of the bridge.

"Aang!", Katara hollered over her shoulder.

"Katara! Don't move!" She stood still and he covered both of themselves with a rocky tent, for on the other side, Azula was getting ready to strike. He started to punch at the protective wall, causing stones to burst out toward her face. Not one hit her, so Aang created a wave of the rocks and forced it to her.

"Uh!", the assault was successful.

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Sokka and Toph fought side by side against Dai Li agents.

"SOKKA! What the heck are you doing?" Well, she was right to be on the alert, for Sokka was doing something stupid, at least that's what she believed. He ran for every single giant boulder there was and destroyed them all with his machete, even the boulders created by Toph.

"...Making sludge juice of our own."

"What?"

"Toph, can you make a ledge underneath all the agents? Then I want you to make it slanted, pointed outside of the city!"

"You can't boss me around, Snoozles!"

"Wait for it...NOW!"

At that moment, Katara and Aang were working together to make a tidal wave and slashed it onto the stray stones. Toph did what she was told and all the Dai Li slipped out of Ba Sing Se, leaving Azula on her own. The Avatar flew Katara up to the top of the wall while she got the leftover water from the pond and blew it over the enemy earthbenders, making them frozen in their place; literally. Kuei (the Earth King), was hiding in

one corner and the rest of the group turned to her angrily.

Azula grinned. "That was a mistake."

"No, it wasn't." Aang got into an earthbending stance and lifted from the floor, a thick wall. Her eyes broadened and Toph quickly made a smoke screen.

Aang and Katara flew off the ledge and began to run to the palace with the others. Knowing that Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee were probably waiting for them at the entrance, all of them got ready (with the exception of Kuei).

Almost suddenly, an electric sound was heard and the wall Aang forged was crumbling.

"Look's like she fell for our plan." Sokka spoke between breaths while they ran faster.

"Yea. Let's just hope she doesn't figure us out.."

They looked behind and saw a shadow. "Aang, call Appa now!"

"I'm on it Sokka." He took out his bison whistle and blew as hard as he could. It only took about a couple of seconds for them to hear a soft roar coming toward them. And into the smoke flew Appa and the gang quickly jumped aboard.

"This will keep her off guard."

"Yea, Aang," stated Katara, "We ran west instead of east into the area of the palace. Good plan! Now let's do this."

-

The kids and Kuei soared through the sky when an orange fireball came straight for them.

"Zuko." Katara said. "We better hurry."

Aang glided the bison toward the ground and they were all greeted by furious minions. They jumped off, leaving the Earth King on the back of Appa and came to defend themselves from their foes. Fire blasted from Zuko's finger tips toward Toph but Katara defended her by forming an ice shield.

Of course, that was the distraction as Sokka and Aang quietly escaped to where they made the hole for the crystal catacombs. Aang started to earthbend another hole through the ground, as the previous one was sealed shut.

Toph enslaved Mai to one of the palace pillars with bands around her arms, legs and forehead. Ty Lee was taken care of my Katara, who froze her in the nearby moat, while Zuko mysteriously escaped.

"C'mon Toph! Let's find the others!"

When the whole group reunited, they were in the crystal prison, but what the saw was devastating. No one was there. Scorch marks were across the walls and a hole was formed.

"He escaped!" Sokka threw his machete on the floor. "This can't be for nothing."

Toph stepped forward. "It isn't Snoozles. He escaped, that means our job just got easier."

"We're too late."

* * *

**AN: Yup. Another day, another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter is...**

**Chapter Three: The Firebending Master**

**If you have any theories on what's going to happen next, feel free to express yourself.**


	3. The Firebending Master

* * *

**AN: Yea, I'm back as yours truly! Sorry it took so long, but here it is! Chapter 3: The Firebending Master. This chapter includes mild Sokka/broccoli moments. Don't worry, when you read it, you'll understand. There's a twist in this chapter. It has to do with someone. I'm not telling you, you'll find out. It's one of the major plot twists, so pay special attention to it.**

**

* * *

**

_**Previously, on Avatar…**_

_"Well look what we have here? The Avatar. Welcome back."_

_Standing in front of them, was Azula and the Dai Li. "There's nothing you can do now. You're surrounded Avatar, and frankly, you cannot escape."_

_Katara looked at Azula angrily._

_"Dai Li, eliminate the intruders."_

_-cut to the group in the caves-_

_"He escaped!" Sokka threw his machete on the floor. "This can't be for nothing."_

_Toph stepped forward. "It isn't Snoozles. He escaped, that means our job just got easier."_

_"We're too late."_

* * *

The gang was on the side of another forest and they blasted their ideas back and forth.

"I-I can't believe we missed him.", Katara shook her head sadly, "There's no way we could've. We planned our entrance so accurately, unless…"

Aang stepped forward. "…Unless he already knew."

The group looked at each other curiously. Toph heard their sighs and felt their questioning glances. There was something amiss, but no one could figure it out. She thought hard.

"If Iroh knew, then what did we do wrong?"

"Toph," Sokka said, "Azula must have spies all over, if she knew that we were going to Ba Sing Se, than she does. The news must have leaked out to Iroh."

"That makes sense. Since that Fire Nation attack almost a week ago, she must have figured us out."

The wind rustled in their faces. Confusion and anxiety filled the mood. Then, a strange sensation stuffed into each of their noses.

Toph crinkled her nostrils. "What the..? What's the weird smell?!", she screamed.

"It's a smoky sensation!"

Everyone turned to stare at Sokka. All of them raised their eyebrows and asked, "HUH?"

"What did I do this time?" That was typical Sokka, always the clueless one.

Katara spoke sarcastically, "What ever do you mean by a 'smoky sensation', my _oh-so wise_ big brother?"

He just starred oddly at his sister and quickly took a whiff of the purple and yellow flower standing next to him. As the tip of his nose touched the petals, everyone freaked out…again.

"YOU IDIOT!", bellowed Katara, "You do know that those are Tenako Flowers! THEY MAKE YOU DELUSIONAL!"

"…eh?" Her "beloved" brother looked up and he started to massively drool. Katara rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe we have to relive the whole desert thing again."

Toph didn't dare to smell that flower; she knew that Sokka, yet again, did something incredibly stupid.

All of them turned around when they heard a loud crashing noise. In the background, was the source of the mysterious smoky sensation. A humungous grey cloud of smoke rose in the air. Katara and Toph swiftly turned to Sokka because they knew what was about to happen, since Aang wasn't there for the _wonderful_ show in the desert.

Toph stared blankly at Sokka. "Let me guess, you _think_ you see a giant fungus and _think_ that it's _**friendly**_?!"

He just responded like there was nothing wrong with him, of course, while his mouth still overflowed with saliva. "There's nothing wrong with a mushroom being friendly! And besides, it's a giant vegetable, not fungus this time!"

"Oh, like what, a fat bulk of cauliflower?"

"NO! But you're close, it's…it's….BROCCOLI!"

Katara slapped her forehead. "Well I guess this so-called _broccoli_ of yours is rotten because it's gray. Now shut up and let's find out what's going on! And no asking the circle birds!"

The earthbender giggled at her comeback while Aang just was utterly confused. He swiveled around when he heard the crash again.

"You guys, the sound is coming from over there!"

Katara yelled, "SOKKA! Stop dripping all over the ground and c'mon!"

But he tugged on Momo's tail as it was passing by and laughed insanely. "EHEHEHE! Momo, do _you_ know what's happening to the giant gray broccoli?"

Toph pulled Sokka away from him and was completely disgusted when he started to drool all over her footsteps. Besides her and Sokka, the rest ran straight toward the smoke.

-

Ba Sing Se was a mess. Frantic people sprinted from place to place. Something was wrong. In the outer wall of the city, an artificial wall was close by that was greatly scarred in the middle. Azula's mark hadn't left it.

"Princess, the prisoner escaped and Prince Zuko is no where to be found." A Dai Li agent timidly told Azula. She looked especially angry today.

"Well, then I suppose you should FIND HIM!", she screamed at the top of her lungs. "The prisoner will be taken care of accordingly, in the meantime, find my brother and make sure he doesn't…interfere."

"Yes, Princess."

-

In the midst of the forest was a hoard of Fire Nation soldiers and Dai Li agents. And who was fighting them, none other than Iroh himself.

"See? I told you our job just got easier," said a clearly tiring Toph. After all, she was literally dragging along the "life" of the group.

Aang and Katara shared a glance as they attacked using water from the two rivers on each side, in a synchronized pattern. With the soldiers not noticing them while fighting the firebender, the two just smiled. Both of them gathered the water into their arms and slowly backed up. Then they turned around quickly with the water bursting forth as a whip. The foes were completely unaware of their attackers as they flew and collided into each other oddly.

Katara looked at the rest of the group. "You know, it's pretty ironic that there's always a water source nearby."

There was more clashing as the battle pursued. With Sokka's delusional attitude, he drooled everywhere, making the enemy army slip and fall.

"I seriously can't believe that Sokka is useful," the blind earthbender calmly said as she knocked out some nearby Fire Nation soldiers with a moving rectangle slab.

Aang used his air scooter to glide along the sides of the battle ground and he used his earthbending to create a circular wall around everyone. Iroh jumped to his side and shot two fire balls out of his fist and foot. In both directions their foes blasted off into the newly built wall. The Dai Li attacked using their earthen gloves once again. They punched toward Aang but when he blocked with airbendending shields, one got through and caught his shirt, causing him to be pulled back.

Toph felt his vibrations and forcibly thrust her fists toward her, destroying the hold on him.

Currently, Sokka was inching like a worm on the ground and his sister, well, she was clearly annoyed. While her brother scared all their enemies away by his odd movements, Katara swept each incoming intruder with a crashing of a wave.

As she sliced her hand, discs of solid ice began to slash through the air and the soldiers fled from them.

With Dai Li surrounding her every side, Toph raised her arms and sunk each person around her into the earth. Their plan was beginning to ensue to make the soldiers retreat. When each member of their team looked at each other and the earthbender felt the vibrations, she knew the queue.

There was a rumbling in the ground. Everyone that was not on their side shot off the ground on top of a giant rock ledge. They flew out of the circular wall around them that Aang had created, and by the time they were gone, only the gang and Iroh were left behind. The Avatar jumped out from behind the wall and again used his air scooter and earthbended another wall around the soldiers who were just starting to get up. With their faces terrified, he went back inside the smaller enclosing.

By then, Katara was ready. She lifted the water from the two rivers and filled the outer wall with the liquid. The Fire Nation soldiers and the Dai Li floated to the surface, struggling to swim out. But the team just smiled. Aang and Katara were preparing for the final strike. Both of them sucked in their breath and released it over the top of the water and it froze. The Fire Nation soldiers used firebending, if they could do so, and broke out of the ice.

"I guess we never really thought about that, now did we?", Aang said to Katara.

They started to get out of their icy prison.

"Hello! Over here!" A slightly delirious Sokka spoke up. Although practically everybody knew that what he would say would be useless, it was nice to hear his "normal" voice again. So they turned to him.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, except Iroh.

"AHAHAHAHA," they raised their eyebrows, "Heh. I'm sorry, still a tiny bit delusional. Okay…as I was about to say, hello? Water…fire, COMPLETE OPPOSITES!"

Katara rolled her eyes at him. "Ugh. We're not that stupid Sokka."

He pointed his finger at her and started to say something as a snappy comeback, but was rudely interrupted when Toph yelled, "Enough talking! More running!"

They looked at her with confused expressions, but when a fiery ball landed in front of them, they looked up and got into action. A strike of flames came at them. Iroh redirected it toward the soldiers.

Quickly thinking, Aang blew on his bison whistle and in just a few moments, Appa came roaring to their group.

"TOPH," Katara called to the blind girl, "We need cover!"

As she heard her, she made the ground burst out with smoke and the enemies could not see. There was screams of fear and terrified yells, but no one did anything about it because they desperately needed to escape their undetermined clutches. Everyone climbed onto Appa as quickly as possible when the flying beast did land. They flew out of the walled area and shot into the sky.

-

"Iroh," Aang stated toward the oldest (with the exception of Aang), but yet the newest member of the group. "Why did you leave Ba Sing Se?"

The old man looked fondly at the Avatar and wisely responded, "I knew that if I stayed, Azula would figure out that you were looking for me. Then she'd either have to kill you or be rid of me. I really had no choice. I knew that if I escaped, you'd find out. But I also faced the fact that Azula would try to find me. So, when I was found, I just fought and made sure that a lot of smoke rose in order for you to find me better. After all, you couldn't have gotten that far from the outer walls of Ba Sing Se."

Aang nodded. "That makes sense."

Momo chattered on top of Sokka's shoulder and the warrior spoke. "Yea. That was about the time when I smelled that flower."

"…You have to admit that it was pretty stupid of you to do that," a grinning waterbender responded to her brother.

"Oh would you just shut it. You're chattier than a hyper lemur that hasn't eaten for a week!"

"That doesn't even make any sense! You're the one that smelled that Tenako Flower. Now _you_ explain how that isn't an extremely stupid thing to do."

"It's not _stupid_; it's called an _accident_, my clearly not-as-wise younger sister. I repeat, _younger_ sister."

"Who cares if I'm younger than you? At least I'm the one who has that brain!"

"Well I'm the one who comes up with the plans!"

"Not anymore! You're just the one who makes things harder for us. Like today, when you smelled the ugly flower thing and Toph had to drag you everywhere all because you didn't think before you smelled! You disgust me! All you ever did was drool all over the place and did the worm while the rest of us were actually fighting."

Sokka rolled his eyes at his sister. "And I repeat, younger sisters. They're so naive."

Toph was getting annoyed. "WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP SNOOZLES?! I have a life too and you and Sugarqueen fighting in a brotherly sisterly fashion _so_ do not help! Just _please_ forgive each other and we can all get on with our lives."

Appa roared when Aang flicked the ropes attatched his horns. "Well, it is my job as Avatar to try and settle feuds…"

Toph turned to his general direction. "Just settle the stinking feud."

"Okay, I guess. Katara, Sokka, forgive each other. The smelling of the flower was an accident and Sokka did make soldiers slip with his saliva. So, technically, he did help out with the battle."

The two siblings looked at each other.

"Come along now," Aang stated. "Anytime…the clock is ticking."

"Oh, what the heck? I forgive you." Sokka and Katara shook hands.

Toph sighed happily and leaned back on the new saddle of Appa. It was just a plain brown one with no designs. It would be a long night before the next day. Time was getting short and they needed a landing place, but they also needed to get as far away from Ba Sing Se as possible. The sun began to set on the horizon and set an orange glow across the skyline.

-

The next morning, the gang awoke on the ground. Aang had landed everyone on a clearing he found in the middle of the night and all of them had fallen asleep fairly late. They were tired of fighting, but knew all the same that they had a time limit before the solar eclipse; the only little problem was that Aang still needed to learn firebending. Well, today was the day.

"…And now to begin your training." Iroh said to a clearly very sleepy Avatar. "Step back a little."

The group was up early but all of them were very tired from their busy day before. They were watching Aang and Iroh in their first firebending lesson in an enclosed area very near the water but far away from trees.

Aang did as he was told and backed up.

"Now, I want you to practice to breathe. Not for long of course, but breathing is key in this type of bending. Take deep breaths. In and out. Make sure to feel relaxed and feel the sun's heat upon you. The sun is important to firebending that is why, when the solar eclipse arrives, no firebender will be able to firebend. But on you, you might. The solar eclipse might not last as long as we need, that is why you need to master this. In and out. Don't be distracted by any other element, including air."

He sucked his chest in, then out for 10 minutes before he was finally told to stop.

"Very good. Now, I want you to stand in the river in a horse stance. I am going to give you this leaf and I want you to keep my flame from reaching the edges."

Aang looked at him worriedly. "I-I can't."

The memories of burning Katara were entering his mind and the waterbender could see his sadness. She got up.

"Iroh, if I may…"

"Of course," he responded and extended his arm toward his new pupil.

The Avatar bowed his head and he and Katara walked over into the forest while everyone else just looked their way, curious.

"Aang, don't let this block you from learning a new element. The world needs you to learn it. _I_ need you to. Please."

"I'm sorry Katara," Aang sadly responded, "But, it's just too painful."

She stared at him. "Nothing is too painful. This whole thing just brings you bad memories, but that is all in the past now. Please do this Aang. Learn the last element. Don't hold back. I'll be fine, and because of your past mistake, I learned how to heal and I greatly thank you for that." Her smile shone through his wicked thoughts of that day.

"Remember, Aang, that is what had been, think of what _is_."

His eyes widened. "Those words…they remind me of, Gyatso…"

Katara lowered her head. She knew that this was a difficult situation for him and thought of what to do. At last, she figured out what needed to be done.

She peered at him and said, "Just remember Gyatso when you firebend. Remember him and all the good things that happened like when…"

Aang finished his sentence. "…like when I met you."

Tears formed in her cerulean eyes and she wiped them away with the edge of her hand. They both smiled at each other.

"Come here. You need a hug."

-

The group waited. When the two came out of the tree infested area, they seemed excited. All of them were happy that things were finally back to normality. But no one noticed when Katara and Aang blushed.

"As I was saying," Iroh nodded to Aang, "Keep the fire from reaching the edge."

-

Zuko rode on his ostrich horse across the barren landscape. He knew where he had to go and he knew what he had to do. How was he to pursue it? He wasn't sure. All he definitely knew was that he was not with Azula.

The animal squawked with it's every movement. Zuko knew for sure that he couldn't go to Full Moon Bay. When the idea struck him, he was already at the Misty Palms Oasis in the desert. Zuko went straight to the White Lotus Society hide out and when he knocked on the door, he simply got a calm reply.

"Ah. Welcome back."

He looked at the two eyes staring at him with determination.

"I need a way to get to Omashu."

* * *

**AN: And there you have it. There's more Kataang to come and that was just a little. Why do **_**you**_** think they blushed?**

**I really like the water/earth concept, so you might see that a lot.**

**Oolala. Zuko's doing something, but what? I know what. BUT YOU DON'T! MUHAHAHAHA! Man, it's great being the author.**

**The next chapter is supposed to be The Armies of the World. The only problem is, I'm thinking of making it a two part chapter or more. What do you guys think?**


	4. Second Chances to Unveil the Truth

**Disclaimer- Go buy yourself a life on ebay if your obsessed with Avatar like me. Too bad I can't buy Avatar off ebay.**

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**AN: I've decided to add extra chapters from the original idea I had. Just to tell you, this story will be more than 5 chapters long.**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend on and off fanfiction. Drum roll please...**

**kae-thinks-of-u **

**(She doesn't even read Avatar fanfics, she's not even an obsessed fan, like ****_some_**** of us…)**

**I would also like to dedicate all that is Kataang on this chapter to...**

**Aangsfangirl1214**

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_**Previously, on Avatar...**_

_"If Iroh knew, then what did we do wrong?"_

_"Toph," Sokka said, "Azula must have spies all over, if she knew that we were going to Ba Sing Se, than she does. The news must have leaked out to Iroh."_

_"That makes sense. Since that Fire Nation attack almost a week ago, she must have figured us out."_

_-cut to the gang on Appa-_

_"Iroh," Aang stated toward the oldest (with the exception of Aang), but yet the newest member of the group. "Why did you leave Ba Sing Se?"_

_The old man looked fondly at the Avatar and wisely responded, "I knew that if I stayed, Azula would figure out that you were looking for me. Then she'd either have to kill you or be rid of me. I really had no choice. I knew that if I escaped, you'd find out. But I also faced the fact that Azula would try to find me. So, when I was found, I just fought and made sure that a lot of smoke rose in order for you to find me better. After all, you couldn't have gotten that far from the outer walls of Ba Sing Se."_

_-cut to training-_

_"…And now to begin your training." Iroh said to a clearly very sleepy Avatar._

_-cut to Zuko in the White Lotus Society-_

_"Ah. Welcome back."_

_He looked at the two eyes staring at him with determination._

_"I need a way to get to Omashu."_

* * *

It had been a week since the attack the Fire Nation made on their camp. Time was running out as the solar eclipse drew nearer and nearer. The clock was ticking. Everything was moving at a faster pace. 

Two days ago, the gang's plans were ensuing and prospering. They retrieved what they expected to find deep within the crystal prisons of Ba Sing Se.

"Again." Iroh nodded toward his pupil as he watched him thrust his fist though the air in order to create a blazing flame, headed for the master. He easily blocked the assault.

"I see you have become proficient in the art of discipline." He smiled, "That is very good. Now, you are ready."

The rest of the group watched curiously (except for Toph). They turned their heads more as Aang got into a better stance.

Sokka spoke up. "You've only been training for what? A day? And he's already _ready_ for something?!"

Everyone stared at him, while the blind earthbender twisted toward his general direction.

"Snoozles, why am I not surprised that it was you?" Everyone laughed. That was true after all. Sokka was in fact the extremely random one around them.

Katara shook her head. "I can't believe I'm actually related to you!"

"Don't tell me that is another beginning to one of your sibling rivalries," Toph looked as annoyed as could be. "...Because if it is, I am calling in Sokka's circle birds to take care of you two."

The two stared at their friend who clearly was in need to a well thought of comeback, but none of them could muster one out. So they just sat there with blank expressions.

Toph shook her head. "You guys are hopeless, especially Snoozles over here." Sokka glared at her, but she just felt his vibrations and poked his head...hard.

He yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

She turned to him and laughed a little. "Sokka..."

"WHAT?"

"...You're annoying me. Enough said."

There was an awkward silence. While the conversation ensued, there was a mixture of confusion and pointing fingers as the three quarreled like their lives depended on it. The Earth King, although blatantly being ignored, was quietly playing with is bear, Bosco. The last few days were hard on him as he left all he knew back in the previous Earth Kingdom capital. Nothing could change their path now. All that was important was teaching Aang firebending, so then he could master the last element left on the list. They were headed to win this battle, even if it took all they've got.

Through all the chatter and bickering, Aang still hadn't lost his concentration. Even Iroh was slightly laughing at the siblings who were currently threatening each other, but quickly regained posture as he saw his student in constant seriousness.

"Now…as I said, you are indeed ready." The master grinned wide at him.

The Avatar shifted a little. "Let's just hope that I don't do anything stupid."

"I will teach you how to control fire. Although you know how to, this is different. You can make the flames move from out of you and shoot fire from your fingertips. Now learn to actually control it within the palm of your hand. Create it, move it, make it grow, and finally dim it out," All the fighting among Katara, Toph and Sokka ceased. They gained interest. "Be cautious, young one. For this may sound simple enough, but is actually one of the hardest steps to becoming a master firebender."

Aang nodded slowly, "Anything."

"Let us begin. Assume stance."

He did as he was told and moved his legs out wider in the horse riding stance.

"Make sure that your legs are bent carefully and that you have balance."

"Yes, Sifu Iroh."

The boy made sure that he was in the correct position and checked if he was stable.

"Very good. Now, on to step one…create fire in your hand."

The rest of the group, who were sitting on the ground, leaned forward with intrigue. Sokka especially was interested with the whole lesson. He had never seen Aang in so much concentration on bending an element before, besides when in fighting, but that didn't really count.

Aang furrowed his brow with determination as he slowly, but gradually made a flame appear in his palm.

"Excellent," Iroh told him, "Second step now. Make it move. Be careful."

His other hand moved toward the fire and it shook slightly before finally moving up and down, beside it. In his hand, it moved ever so slightly and its red glare shone bright in the sunlight. Aang breathed in and out, remembering how Master Jeong Jeong had said that breathing is important to firebending.

"Wonderful…don't hesitate now. Move it faster."

The boy did so.

"Remember that the sun is essential to this art. Feel its rays upon you. Feel the fire actually move within you. Don't think of controlling the fire, _be_ the fire."

He nodded as he heard the man's wise words.

"Third step. This is the most difficult of all of the other steps. Growing fire. Carefully…"

"Yes, master."

Aang placed his second hand closer to the flame he beheld. Stretching his fingers out more, he breathed out and he grew surprised as it began to expand its size. He hesitated as he was having difficulty keeping it from growing any larger.

Iroh noticed this. "Careful, careful. Keep your hand steadier, widen your posture and breathe deeper."

He assumed his stance even wider and breathed harder.

As this all occurred, the flame stopped growing. It was a success after all.

"Great! Now, final step. Douse the flame."

Aang rapidly pushed his two hands together and small sparks of orange busted out from the sides of his clasped palms. The fire was gone.

"I'm impressed! You caught on very quickly. Time for the lesson to end, we will continue tomorrow and work more on touching up the beginner set. Maybe if you are ready, we will also begin intermediate."

-

Night had fallen upon the sky and the group was readying Appa for travel. Their plans were to move during the nighttime while no one would see the giant, fluffy beast and rest while flying. It was the most convenient way and the safest. If they needed to go during the daytime, they would, but for now, evening it was.

When everything was packed and prepared, they climbed onto Appa.

Aang whispered a quiet 'yip yip'. And off they were, into the dark of night, with all their eyes shut with sleep.

But Katara wasn't asleep. She looked over at Aang sadly, still feeling the pain of seeing him fall. She wasn't content with not being able to really tell him what happened with Azula and the Dai Li, or that Iroh had even helped them. She felt grief of almost not saving him, and the horrible memories of the night as she rushed toward the group with Aang in her arms, not saying a word as she saw her brother in a shocked sadness.

There was a certain anxiety of not being able to get something of your chest, like it was becoming a terrible burden to carry.

Katara felt the cold of a tear slowly come down her cheek. She hardly noticed when Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder, his brotherly instincts kicking in.

He was emotionless. He knew all she was thinking and didn't want to even touch upon the thought himself.

Sokka opened his mouth to speak and whispered into her ear, "Katara, what's wrong?" She didn't need to answer. He knew perfectly well what she was thinking.

"I'm going to try this again," he said to her softy, "What happened underneath Ba Sing Se that was so horrible to you, that you won't even speak about it? What was so horrible, that it _actually_ made me worried about him when I saw him? Katara, _what happened_?"

She turned to her brother and looked at him with her blue eyes. When he saw this, he felt like her gaze pierced his heart. It pained him so to see his sister like this.

And when she responded, he lowered his head.

"Sokka, down there…" She hesitated, "…A-ang. H-he was in the A-Avatar State. A-a-Azula…THAT EVIL WITCH!" Katara was clearly furious. He knew she was hiding something.

Surprisingly, everyone else was still sleeping after Katara's _little_ shout.

"You're not answering the question."

He smiled at her in a half melancholy way; he wasn't entirely at his happiest and decided to be honest about it. Katara just stared blankly at him, unsure of what to do next. She stayed unmoving for a couple if minutes, hesitant to go on with this conversation.

Sokka's smile faded when he knew he wouldn't get a response. He just nodded at her and looked away toward the moon, Appa's fur rubbing against his clothing as they soared ever so high.

"…You can tell me, Katara, when you are ready. Just remember, we all want to know what happened to our best friend and all we know is that Azula did something with lightning to him, but not really much. Katara, this may be hard for you, but you need to get this off your chest somehow. Aang doesn't even know."

-

The flying bison's hair rustled in the morning air. The whole gang was in the sky for the entire night and Appa seemed to lower to the ground.

Toph was the first to awake, shifting on the brand-new brown saddle as she opened her blind eyes. Katara was apparently awake for basically the whole night, only dozing off for a couple minutes at a time. She was still in a somewhat solitary state and ignored any attempts to get her attention for a while. Her slight frown never disappeared throughout the rest of the ride.

Iroh woke up next with his arms moving from their place under his head. They completely avoided their usual morning routine as Sokka wasn't the last to awaken.

Aang was fast asleep on the flying beast's head. He was unmoving and was silently grimacing under the light of the sun. The Water Tribe warrior stared at him and glanced at his sister.

-

Sokka took the wheel (the rope) and landed Appa as near to the water as possible. He swiftly jumped off onto the ground. They were on a lake surrounded by trees and bushes. In the center of the lake was an isolated island, which they were on. It was just big enough to hold all of them.

Frantic movements were being made from Toph jumping off to Iroh moving side to side to help with the unpacking.

Katara was closing her eyes as she sat underneath the shade of the flying monster, on her lap she carried Aang. Something wasn't right with him. There was a lack of supposed normality in this scene.

"Katara! Find some good water and try to help him out! I'll come with you." Her brother ran toward her and lifted the Avatar from her lap, gently.

Toph ran to their side after they were finished getting all their things off Appa. She looked completely in the dark.

"Hey, what happened to Twinkle Toes?"

There was a turn of heads as the two siblings focused their vision on their friend.

Katara responded, "I don't know," she looked at her brother, "He just kind of…collapsed."

Sokka nodded in agreement. "Maybe he's finally kicking in to the exhaustion of the injury he took on. Katara?" He suddenly stopped talking as he saw his sister's vague expression.

"Katara," he called again. "What …what do you know?" He was almost reluctant to ask, but he knew that the only way to make her actually answer their questions was to keep on persisting.

The master waterbender was deep in thought and also was well aware of what Sokka was trying to ask. She had to admit, she was getting annoyed, but decided instead that the only way to get this off her chest and stop her brother from talking, was to answer. She knew that eventually she'd have to say something and came to a conclusion that it was indeed the right time to make her stand. Sucking in her breath slightly, Katara turned more toward her companions and began to hesitantly tell the horrible tale.

Iroh saw the three and joined in, soon the Earth King sat with them, each of their eyes widening as the story became more and more intense.

-

"Princess," inside the moving machine was more madness, "I'm afraid the storm will not allow us to further track Prince Zuko and the prisoner."

Azula turned to him, eyes determined. "May I ask you something captain?"

The tank full of Fire Nation troops shook.

"Of course." He looked at her with curiosity.

"Does the storm command this vessel?"

"I'm afraid that I do not understand what you are asking."

The firebender smirked. "Does the storm command this vessel?" she repeated more sternly.

"No, princess."

She seemed to become angry with the man and twisted her expression in a more infuriated way. "Then if I were to have you thrown overboard, will the storm think twice about smashing you against the winds and drowning you in this thunder?"

"No, princess."

"Well then, I suggest you worry less about the storm that's already made up its mind about killing you and more about me, who's still mulling it over."

The captain nodded and swiftly went away, clearly shaken up by her sudden death threat.

They were looking for their supposed prisoners again and were unbearably close, even though the troops didn't know it, Azula had.

-

The group had just finished hearing Katara's "short" story and all of them were clearly taken aback. Had Aang really been struck with lightning?

Sokka shifted slightly with his eyes in shock. "Katara…I-I'm sorry."

She just bowed her head and created a small fake smile on her face. "I-It's okay Sokka. I needed to tell you guys anyway. It was about time I say something about it. I-I just…" she paused, looking more solemn, "I just need some time alone."

The rest of the gang looked at each other (except Toph) and nodded at each other in agreement, leaving her alone next to Appa.

When they left her with Aang still resting, she turned to the setting sun with fresh memories flashing in her mind.

She thought of those days past, of the war and her friendships. It was like she never knew how much could be inside her mind at such a great amount.

-

The sun had risen to the next day and Aang still hadn't awoken. With Katara asleep on Appa's side and the airbender on a comfortable spot near her, the gang seemed to be quieter than usual.

But no one really figured out why Aang was suddenly knocked out. He squirmed again and Katara awoke to the sounds.

She turned to him and saw his slight movements within the pupils of her eyes. With a swipe of her hand, she quickly opened her water pouch and bended the liquid toward the Avatar's chest to at least calm him. It was after she was done that she realized the problem.

"It must be…oh no." she whispered to no one in particular.

Quickly, with the realization setting in, she carried Aang onto the back of Appa. Careful not to wake the rest of the group since it was only fairly early in the morning; Katara made sure the flying bison lifted off the ground without that much sound.

The girl was headed toward a body of water, of some sort and was constantly looking back and forth at Aang to the paths in front of her. When she noticed that his tattoos began to glow, she widened her eyes.

"His Avatar Spirit must be trying to heal himself."

With that, Katara finally spotted a smallish lake view and landed swiftly nearby. She left her friend on Appa and ran to it, ready to bend the fresh new water into her pouch. When she did so, she was ready to try to do what she wanted to do all along…

-

_In Aang's head:_

"Aang, time is short. A great danger looms before you and you are still in need of healing." The Avatar before him (Roku) spoke in a very serious tone of voice.

The young boy stepped forward more. "I know, but what exactly do you want me to do? And what is this danger?"

"I do not know for sure, but I just want you to be on the alert when you wake up. Keep caution, for this danger is indeed very large. It is in your path, choose you tactics wisely."

"Why? What am I here for, Roku?"

The elder person just nodded in understanding. "Do you know what happened underneath Ba Sing Se?"

He hesitated, "N-no. Not really, just that I was knocked out for a while and…"

"Aang. This danger is more than just of the one that is in you and your friends' path, it is one of your own and of us. You were hit down, in the Avatar State. You _do_ know what this means. But you were healed by the young waterbender traveling with you."

"Katara."

"Yes, but you have to understand. Even though you were struck in the Avatar State, you were indeed saved. But because of the seriousness of the injury, you will not be able to enter the state till you have to. And when I say this, more of forced to."

The boy was beginning to become more confused. "What do you mean?"

"When the time is right, you will understand. In the meantime…we must now go our separate ways. Your friend is waiting for you. I am sure that she'll tell you all else you may need to know."

Clouds started to fog his vision and Roku began to fade into the abyss.

-

Katara was doing her best to heal her friend. She placed the new water onto his back, as if to ease the pain.

Suddenly, she heard a gentle groan.

"AANG!" she yelled almost unconsciously.

The Avatar stirred. "Yes?"

With a widespread smile stretched out on both their faces, they hugged each other as if their lives depended on it.

"I'm glad you're okay, Aang."

-

They left on Appa toward the camp, making sure that no one woke up when they landed. But when Aang turned around with a worried expression, she sensed something was indeed amiss.

Katara scooted toward him. "What's wrong?"

"There's…a-a danger, Roku said." He bowed his head, "He said it was bad and that we would face it soon in our path."

"What?" She crinkled her eyebrows.

"But he said I also can't go into the Avatar State till I'm forced too…be-because of what happened under Ba Sing Se."

Her eyes faced downward as she knew well aware of what happened. "L-like what?"

"…Like…I was hit while in the Avatar State or something."

He looked toward her and knew that he just might get what he wanted to know out from her mouth and maybe he could put at least some pieces of the 'getting forced to go into the Avatar State' puzzle together.

"Why? Is there something wrong with that? W-well, there's always something wrong when you get hit, but that's not the point!"

Aang pushed hid hands up and down. "It's okay Katara. It's just that if I'm killed in the Avatar State, there's no more Avatar and…"

"WHAAAT?! How is that _okay_?"

Her shout seemed to wake that rest of the crew, but they slowly went back to sleep.

The boy laughed nervously. "Heh-heh? It's just…"

Katara looked saddened. "Look. I'm sorry. I was just being stupid."

"No you weren't!"

"Yes, I was. Aang," she replied sheepishly, "I need to tell you something important."

The Avatar listed intently to her commentary, but was beginning to widen his eyes at the thrilling story she was telling about what actually happened under Ba Sing Se. It was about time she told.

What they didn't know….what that Toph was awake and listening. She just quietly heard their voices, unmoving and was the first to know of the rest of the group, about the danger that will loom their path.

-

By afternoon, the gang was already on Appa, flying toward their new destination: Omashu. Everyone was either planning what to do next, or asking Aang if he feels alright.

Sokka was holding a map and scanning every inch. "Okay. So we're headed towards Omashu. If we meet up with the resistance over there, then we can prepare them. We need all the help we can get. Time is running short."

"You've got that right," Aang said, remembering his talk with Roku. "I suppose we have a plan?"

By this time, everyone knew about the supposed "danger" that awaited them and all were sure to be ready for a sudden battle.

"Well, sort of. We have no idea what kind of dangerous thing awaits us, but one thing for sure is that we want to try and avoid all dangerous paths possible. The Cave of Two Lovers is definitely a no…"

Katara and Aang blushed madly at Sokka's statement. No one noticed, but they knew that they still hadn't told him.

Iroh looked at the Water Tribe warrior. "Then what do you propose we do?"

"Well, we can't fly. Whoever we'll meet up with will spot us easily," he scanned the cardiograph once again, "We could go on this sliver of land called 'The Crawler's Pass.' It looks like the best way."

Toph heard the conversation and decided to join in. "No way are we going on that! Last time you led us to one of those things, it was called 'The _Serpent's_ Pass' and let me tell you…it wasn't necessarily a _pretty_ place."

Sokka flailed his arms into the air. "What do _you_ know?! YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE! HOW DO _YOU_ KNOW IF IT'S _PRETTY_ OR NOT?!"

The blind earthbender slapped him.

"OW!"

"Yea, Snoozles, you shut up. Anyways…I propose that we fly Appa across the mountain tops and set up camp on the ridges. That way, no one can see use because we're covered by mountains, and we can get there a safely as possible."

"I like that plan," Aang said, "It's well thought of and very practical."

Katara giggled. "Yea, and we don't have to count on Sokka's _instincts_ to carry our stuff."

-

When it was nighttime, the gang settled on a ridge, sleeping on Appa. But they were all up for an unpleasant surprise.

"Avatar…Iroh, So pleased to meet you once again. And what a _lovely_ evening it is for a reunion."

**

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**AN: I'm sorry it took so long to upload this, but I really hope you liked it. Who do you think is the intruder?**

**The next chapter is:**

**Chapter 5- To Fight Fire With Fire**

**(note: it is not part of the original five chapter plan, as this chapter is not either.)**


	5. To Fight Fire With Fire

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**Disclaimer- Nope. Sorry. I don't own our beloved Avatar. Just this story plot.**

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**AN: The weekend Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, I was reading. I was reading it slow on purpose because I knew that I'd be sad when it was over. You know, being the 7th and last book of my favorite series. I was actually crying right when I finished. I really couldn't believe it. I hate it you know, when a great story ends. C'mon. You guys probably know how I feel. There has probably been some great tale out there, or series that made you extremely sad when it was over, when the whole thing was over. And that's how I'll feel when Avatar is over, probably crying. I actually can't believe I'm writing this, but I feel the urge to do so.**

**So for those fellow Harry Potter fans, or supporters of The Boy Who Lived against Lord Voldemort, I present to you my short fanfic, called After the End. I'll tell you when I post it under the Harry Potter section of fanfiction. Thank you for taking the time to read this.**

**I CAN'T WAIT FOR SEAON THREE! THE TRAILER ROCKS!!!**

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**_Previously, on Avatar…_**

_"I will teach you how to control fire. Although you know how to, this is different. You can make the flames move from out of you and shoot fire from your fingertips. Now learn to actually control it within the palm of your hand. Create it, move it, make it grow, and finally dim it out," All the fighting among Katara, Toph and Sokka ceased. They gained interest. "Be cautious, young one. For this may sound simple enough, but is actually one of the hardest steps to becoming a master firebender." _

_Aang nodded slowly, "Anything."_

_"Let us begin. Assume stance."_

_-cut to Sokka and Katara talking on Appa-_

_Sokka's smile faded when he knew he wouldn't get a response. He just nodded at her and looked away toward the moon, Appa's fur rubbing against his clothing as they soared ever so high._

_"…You can tell me, Katara, when you are ready. Just remember, we all want to know what happened to our best friend and all we know is that Azula did something with lightning to him, but not really much. Katara, this may be hard for you, but you need to get this off your chest somehow. Aang doesn't even know."_

_-cut to inside Aang's thoughts with his and Roku's conversation-_

_"Aang. This danger is more than just of the one that is in you and your friends' path, it is one of your own and of us. You were hit down, in the Avatar State. You do know what this means. But you were healed by the young waterbender traveling with you."_

_"Katara."_

_"Yes, but you have to understand. Even though you were struck in the Avatar State, you were indeed saved. But because of the seriousness of the injury, you will not be able to enter the state till you have to. And when I say this, more of forced to."_

_-cut to the gang asleep on Appa-_

_"Avatar…Iroh, So pleased to meet you once again. And what a lovely evening it is for a reunion."_

_

* * *

_

The sudden sleepiness that engulfed the team was sucked out of them by the surprise appearance. Katara was the first to awaken from her slumber. 

"Azula," she whispered, getting up into a fighting stance. 

It was near dawn and the sky was loosing its darkness. The sun was rising. One by one, the rest of the gang arose and prepared for the intense battle that was to come, for behind the princess appeared Mai and Ty Lee. 

A sly smirk formed across Azula's face. "Do you _really_ think that you can escape me that easily? Flying just above the mountains and sleeping on the ledges? That is a good plan, I admit, but not good enough." 

Sokka turned to Toph, "Yea, nice going! My plan for the Crawler's Pass was better!" 

"Yea?" Toph whispered heavily in reply, "Well at least mine didn't involve fighting a giant _canyon_ crawler or a serpent that could've almost drowned us!" 

"SILENCE!" The crowd looked surprised when the two stopped their bickering all at once. 

Azula began to pace around the camp with her hands clasped behind her and her back straight. 

In a slender but manufactured tone, she spoke. "I don't think you fully understand the gravity of your situation. Your lives are at stake here, but you see? There's always a price to letting your guard down." 

"What do you_ want_ Azula?" Katara shouted with a stern tone. 

Aang held onto his staff even tighter now. He knew there was something that was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. 

She narrowed her eyes. "Look, I don't have time for your questions, _girl_. But I do have a proposal." 

There was a pause as the minds of all of who just heard the princess speak. Their minds were swimming with every possible idea they could think of. 

"Give me Iroh and I'll be off. I will completely avoid you." 

Everyone could feel the air picking up. 

"THAT'S A LIE!" Aang held his staff more forward for emphasis as he yelled his loudest; knowing perfectly well that was he said was true. 

She turned to the airbender, hands still behind her back and smiled. "Now, there is no reason to lie. Hand over my uncle and all will be over." 

"Never." 

Katara shot a glance at her brother and he nodded in his friend's defense. The effect rippled to Toph and his sister, all knowing that they couldn't let Iroh go. Their stances became steadier and they readied themselves for battle. 

"I don't think that we'll let you have him easily Azula," Aang widened his front stance, "…because if we did, well, then I suppose we'd be on your side then." 

"Is that a threat, Avatar?" 

"No. It's a_ proposal_." 

"Erah," she growled. The evil firebender was even angrier now as she shot a blue fire bolt at her opponent. 

Realization struck the rest of the team. They sprung into action, fighting their way through every corner in defense. Katara and Sokka bumped into each other's back as they each threw out some sort of punch. 

Sokka quickly glanced at his sister, "What do you think about what Aang meant by 'proposal?'" 

He flung his boomerang at Ty Lee's wrist as she was about to hit Toph. 

"What do you mean?" Katara used the water whip on every one of Mai's flying weapons aimed at her. 

"Just thinking," catching his club in one arm, he swung underneath to Ty Lee's legs and tripped her with it. "Do you think he meant 'proposal' as in 'I'm going to marry you,' sort of thing?" 

Katara was almost tempted to slap her forehead at his stupid comment but kept on deflecting the girl's attacks. When she finally saw an opening, she formed ice around Mai's arm and flipped her over hard. 

With a loud noise, she dropped on her back as Katara was just finishing bending the water back into her pouch. 

- 

Meanwhile, Toph and Iroh were almost in sync with each other's moves. The elder man with his unusually muscular arms skidded sideways and he looked as if he was a windmill when he shot flames out of his clenched wrists. 

With each strike she made, Toph became more aware of her stomping rocks from side to side. Poking her fists in toward the sky, she felt Ty Lee's vibrations come to her. And a swing of a boulder flew to her face and seemed to knock her off her feet. 

Clearly satisfied with her work, Toph created a smirk that shone across her dirtied face. "Have a nice trip! See you next fall!" The blind girl shouted with a grin still plastered on and her eyes looked blankly into those of Ty Lee's. 

"But it's not even fall!" 

Katara actually smacked her forehead when her ears caught the odd conversation between the two enemies. 

"No duh!" 

The overly happy girl that seemed discombobulated at the outburst. "…So how can you see me _next_ fall if it's not even fall? It makes no sense! I mean, it's _obviously_ summer outside, so it's _definitely_ not this autumn weather you keep talking about. I'm confused." 

"Well _obviously_," Toph responded. 

"So explain!" 

"I'm not explaining a thing! There's nothing to explain! It's a cleverly thought out joke! DON'T YOU GET IT?!" Toph yelled at the top of her lungs. 

"Um," Ty Lee faltered a bit, "Uh, no." 

Sokka barged in to their colloquy with a bash of boomerang at Ty Lee's arm. "Wait, Toph. How is that a 'cleverly well thought of joke' if it was already in the joke book for practically FOREVER!" 

Another thud occurred when the girl cart wheeled herself of the ground. Rain was beginning to cascade to the ground as the conflict ensued. 

"That's why the joke is so awesome." Toph almost back-flipped when Katara ran seemingly close to her to shoot a water whip at Mai. 

The Water Tribe warrior was now crashing to the ground after a series of undoubtedly weakening punches hit his good boomerang elbow from the likes of Ty Lee. "Right, Toph. And I'm a horrible fighter." He replied sarcastically with a quick fall to the ground. 

"Yea," she smirked, "You pretty much are." 

The battle raged on and more blows were thrown at every which way, but no one seemed to pay attention to what was happening between Azula and Aang. 

- 

He was pointing his staff threateningly at the Fire Nation Princess. Aang was in a steadier horse stance than the beginning and kept his face stern. He had just narrowly avoided getting hit by yet _another_ bolt of lightning that was life threatening and was breathing faster than his normal pace. The bandages underneath his tattered clothing seemed to rattle with horrible recognition from the battle the lied under Ba Sing Se. 

"There is no stopping me once I've started, Avatar. I _will_ have what I came for and there's _nothing_ you can do to stop me." Azula had her two fingers pointed at Aang. 

"What do you want with Iroh?" 

There was a dramatic pause, possibly to gather anticipation, she did not respond right away to his question. 

"What more is there to know? He is a _wanted_ fugitive of the Fire Nation and a criminal of treason against the Firelord." 

Aang's eyebrows knitted tightly together. "You didn't answer my question." 

"Let's just say, father needs him in order to…_keep_ him out of harms way." 

"Oh you **_LIAR_**!" He stepped forward a little more but it was like he shook the earth beneath them when he stood. 

Azula found her manufactured smile across her face and turned effectively with a strong force to him and shot a blue flame right to his head. 

Aang blocked this assault using his staff and turning it in a rapid motion. Flipping over her head, she swiveled to her back and blasted a strong gust of wind. With her toppling forward, he took his chance to use earthbending to shield himself with a stone tent. 

Azula caught herself before she fell all the way over and stood to see the Avatar protecting himself. Aang pushed his arms forward with a flick of his wrist and rock began to soar to her. 

She wasn't hit at all. Still with a sickening smile on her face, Azula burst from the tips of two of her fingers, a zigzagging lightning bolt at what was left of the earthen structure and the blow sent him flying into a lone boulder. 

A loud, thundering crash was heard all across the small battle field and all who were there seemed to turn their heads to what was amidst them. 

Sokka was getting worn out by all the punches Ty Lee kept throwing at him and eventually fell to the floor, exhausted from getting hit so much. 

Toph was knocked to the side of the fight, forced to stay put or she'll fall off the cliff if she moved or even fought or earthbended more. It was that, or get knocked unconscious by Ty Lee's chi-blocking moves. She was trapped. 

Katara was pinned to the side of a nearby tree by some of Mai's weapons with her wrist bands hooked and unable to bend any water to save her life. 

All seemed hopeless and lost. Everyone was down. The rain was growing stronger by the second, thrashing itself upon the scorched ground. Everything was still and every person was watching to see what might occur next. 

Kuei, who was clearly being ignored, stood there behind his bear, Bosco and had a look of fear smothered across his face. He and his pet were very near Appa and all had wide eyes at what had just occurred. Iroh was standing still, not daring to move a muscle or even flinch. He knew hat the battle was seemingly lost but had a feeling that it was not over.  
Thunder flashed across the sky but the flames of the fight were still lit and burning on the nearby trees.

Aang slowly stood up, shaken from the sudden blast toward him from Azula.

"You've lost, Avatar. You are sleep deprived and weak. There is no way any of you can defeat us. You might as well give up now and hand over my uncle." The princess looked at him with a terrible glare that seemed to pierce right through to his thoughts.  
He made an angry expression appear in his face, staff out of hold, he calmly picked it up from the floor beside his feet. "This battle isn't over."

"That is where you are wrong."

She blasted a hot blue flame at him and he began to dodge. As he landed on his side with his left fist stuck in the ground due to some of his advanced earthbending, he caught himself with his other hand when he flicked his left wrist at Azula and rocks began to avalanche themselves unnaturally. 

Thrown off into a thick fallen tree branch, she gasped when the blow made contact. 

Ty Lee moved to help her companion and struggled to pull Azula upright. Just then, Toph realized that she was no longer trapped on the cliff and moved forward to help Aang. 

Azula growled in frustration when the earthbender charged to her. 

"Ty Lee, make up for your actions and disarm the girl," the princess straightened, "_I_ will take care of the Avatar." 

The chi-blocker nodded forcibly at her and her face transformed from slightly happy that what one should be, into a fierce scowl. 

Although she could not see it, Toph could feel Ty Lee running towards her with fists raised and ready to punch her off balance. But before her opponent could even throw something at her, Toph struck with all her willpower and pushed one of her feet onto the ground, sinking Ty Lee like the hard floor was quicksand until all that was left showing was her head. 

She began to squirm with fear when the rest of her body was stuck in the ground, she couldn't move. Toph just smirked at her face one last time before she felt Azula throw a bolt of lightning at no one in particular. She felt it as her chance to free the others while she could and got to work as soon as possible. 

Through all the blasts of fire and air, she managed to get through to Katara, whom he decided to rescue first because she was the first bender she could think of that could help. 

As Aang shot a fire ball at Azula, the princess flipped in midair. 

"So, my fuddy-duddy uncle has actually taught you something. I thought that he was too much of a coward to teach anyone, let alone the Avatar to fight with my family's native element. I suppose he's taught you how to sit there and do nothing but move it?" Azula's determined expression shone through the firelight as if it hit Aang in the face. 

He swiped out air with his staff at her and turned in at the spot. "He has a good reason for it. Why do you care anyway? You can't learn discipline to save your life!" 

"Are you calling me uncouth, Avatar? Do you think I'm stupid? A firebending prodigy, they call me. So why are you trying so hard to break me to pieces?" 

At this, Aang was getting infuriated at Azula. "Look what you've done, Azula. Destroying the Earth Kingdom, out searching to get rid of your own family! Tell me now how all of what I've just said is discipline." 

"The Fire Nation triumphs even with you as the head of the other elements…and to put things in their place, you are the one who failed. In the long run, you are weak, powerless, and defenseless. But what am I? I am-" 

"-A sick coward. You run away from weakness. What good is a leader if they don't have weaknesses, Azula? It is you who is weak, not me." 

She kicked a light blue cluster of fire to his face. 

- 

Frantically prying the metal weapons off of Katara's wristbands, Toph was almost tempted to earthbend at the tree she was stuck to. She had just recently knocked Mai out of the way and was in the process of freeing her friends. 

With one final tug, Katara was set free and she rubbed her wrists and thanked Toph. She followed her to Sokka who was lying on the ground nearby and they both knelt down. 

Toph was pulling at his arms to try and get him to stand up. "C'mon Snoozles! Twinkle Toes might need our help and we won't be much assistance with you lying around. Get your big butt up or I'll earthbend you to Earth Rumble Six!" 

He stood up with some difficulty, but by this time, his sister Katara had already healed his numerous punched spots. 

"Gee Toph. I didn't know you had such a temper." Sarcasm was oozing out of his voice as Sokka said it. 

Toph punched him in his arm. 

"OW! Hey Katara just healed that!" 

"Too bad, I was sort of savoring the moment. Want me to punch you again? Kick you? Or maybe shoot a boulder up your nose?" 

**BOOM**. Another intimidating sound rang in their ears. 

Katara was getting worried for Aang. Her voice quavered a little, and then she said, "Quit it you guys. We've got to hurry up. Let's get Iroh." 

The three of them quietly raced themselves to face the old man and the earth king, both of whom were standing next to Appa. They had absolutely no difficulty whatsoever to try to convince him to come, because the instant he saw them coming, he burst forward in a fighting stance and they swiftly followed him. 

"HEY! What about _me_?" Kuei was sprinting into the fray as quickly as his pampered feet could take him and dragged Bosco by the ear along with him. 

- 

Aang was thrown back by a blast of fire at his chest, but he managed to block the most of it with a quick reflex of breaking his opponent's root in firebending. 

Standing farther back, her let out a deep breath and jumped into the air, pushing his legs off along with the rest of his body as be fiercely kicked an attack of flames from both his feet. 

Azula deflected the assault with his forearms. 

Loud noises could be heard in their background and people were clearly coming into view. Azula let out a sort of exasperated grunt when she saw that it was that was coming towards them and became more or less infuriated. 

Katara, Toph, Sokka, Iroh and the earth king came swiftly in their wake as the rain kept flowing from the gray skies. 

Aang smirked at his enemy. It showed clearer and clearer by the second that she was getting angry at the persistence of his friends and himself. 

She turned to him in a fast motion, not stopping to throw another blow at him. Aang reeled back while he ducked underneath it and brought a disturbance in the ground using earthbending to knock Azula off balance. And knock her it did, for she was seen awkwardly toppling off to the side as Katara instinctively water whipped the princess's cascading arm into a trapped orb of water so that she could not firebend with it. Katara flipped her, but Azula broke the fall with a firebending blast that blew Katara of her feet and the water came falling down to the ground. 

Aang used his chance, eyes wide at what his opponent just completed doing; he stared at Katara who only nodded at him. He nodded back and waterbended the fallen liquid to make it float in midair. Aang controlled it to hit Azula's aiming hand constantly and he grabbed her by the ankle using it, but she only let herself free. 

Through all the crashes and thuds, Katara watched he fight over her shoulder as she stood up, her hair soaked. She turned to see Toph, who was fruiously battling Mai and Sokka who was tugging at the earth king's robes to help him move faster to he scene.

Suddenly, a terrible electric noise coursed through the air, like a powerful crunch when it made contact.  
The Avatar lay unconcious upon the ground.

Eyes widening, those who could see saw a terrible sight.  
Toph turned her head toward the sound. "What the _**EFF**_ was that?!" Realizing what just happend, mostly because of Katara's and Sokka's yells ("AANG!"), she almost slapped herself. She felt the vibrations on the ground...didn't she? Struck hard with realization, she ran to the spot in full speed only to be ferociously grabbed by the arms by an unknown figure.

"That lightning must of been a flare! A _signal_ to the rest of the soldiers!" Iroh was in a fighting stance once again, arms up in front of his face.

Azula's attack not only signaled the rest of her cronies, but also was used to make an assault on Aang, who was still sprawled out on the floor with is arms spread-eagled in and odd angle. Soon, the mountain ridge was stampeded with crunching sounds from the feet of Fire Nation Soldiers. They were surrounded and trapped...again.

"Uh!" Sokka was then in the process in being pulled back by a couple of hands then his arms were being tied in difficult knots behind his back. "_Great_," he said in an exasperated tone of voice. He tilted his head to the side to see a bound up earthbender. He sighed. "This is sure to be _wonderful_."  
He then saw his sister and Iroh getting knotted, their legs and arms were tied possibly because they were both benders.

Azula smiled a sort of rotten sneer. She turned her body to the unconcious Avatar who obviously couldn't hear her. "I told you, Avatar. You've lost. How many times do I have to say it?" At that very moment, Aang opened his eyes and stood up, once again readying himself with his staff in hand. He stared at her. Aang looked around him and saw his friends bound to themselves, but he didn't bother giving up. Although he was somewhat terrified at the dreadful scene, he did not flinch, his facial expression remaining the same serious state it was in.

He aimed his staff at her. Fire Nation Soldiers pointed their fists at him along with Mai and Ty Lee, who was recently dug out of the ground by a couple more soldiers. Sokka, Katara and Toph were squirming in their binds and the earth king contained a shocked expression upon his face while he was silently being bound also. Iroh gasped. They were aout to shoot fire out at Aang when-  
"Don't bother," Azula said still with that disgusting smrik, "Shoot at the Avatar's companions."

Aang's expression went from seriousness to a scared look. "NO!" he yelled on top of his lungs. Azula almost laughed at his misery, but stopped as soon as she got a hold of herslef. Aang didn't bother to shoot because if he did, he knew that his friends would pay the price. _What good would that do? I don't want to loose them._

He lowered his eyes to look at the scorched ground beneath his feet. Distantly he could here the muffled cries of his friends who told him not to give up. ("No Aang! Don't do it!") The Avatar made his decision. His eyes flikered with defeat even though he reluctantly ignored their screams.  
"Fine," he said, "I surrender." He clearly saw that his friends shook their head frantically. This coudn't be happening. Aang dropped his staff onto the ground with a soft thud and then Azula's face seemed to be a ghastly type of happy. "Then show your defeat. You have lost and you will pay the ultimate price for your actions against the Fire Nation."

His head still bowed, Aang nodded in an understanding fashion.

"Fight, Avatar. Your defeat cannot be confirmed without you having at least a _couple_ scratches on you."  
Aang clearly heard the terrifying sarcasm and knew that he wouldn't get of of this without almost dying. He nodded once again in a feeble way, staring at his friends who were still attempting to help him, but all in vain.

"And so it begins..." She shot blue fire at him like so many time before while he earthbended a shield in front of him, knocking heavy rock at Azula. She kicked them from side to side but at least he was lucky that _one_ hit her. She fell backward but got up only to spiral into the air and destroy the earth shield. He was forced backward.

Aang blasted a strong flame at her, but she blocked it easily. She kept knocking him down and he knew he was loosing, until the point where he couldn't get up anymore.

Toph screamed, "Come on! You can do it Twinkle Toes!" Then her mouth was quickly coverd by hand.

The world seemed black to Aang. He heard his friends cry out to him. He knew he shouldn't give up...not again. He felt Azula grabbing him by the shoulders and forcibly pushing him against a lone burned tree on the mountain ridge. She held a powerful cerulean flame in the palm of her hand, she smirked ever still.  
His hazy vision was clearing and he saw this, but he was too dazed to do anything about it.

_No. No. I have to fight. I can't, but I have to. What did Roku say?  
_He vaguely remembered, but then he thought of the people he loved that were about to witness him being pelt by a fireball. He thought of them being hurt. He needed a way to do this. He needed a way to defeat her. If he didn't, she would win...the whole world would loose and his friends would pay the price for even knowing him.

Forcing himself to try anf remember, he finally heard a sort of ringing of voices inside his head.

_"Yes, but you have to understand. Even though you were struck in the Avatar State, you were indeed saved. But because of the seriousness of the injury, you will not be able to enter the state till you have to. And when I say this, more of forced to."_

He finally understood what he had to do. He was being **forced** into the Avatar State. Aang closed his eyes in a tight frustration as Azula's fireball neared his face and he was bracing himself for impact. And it did make contact. **KABOOM**.

Aang's eyes were aglow, his newly grown hair was ruffling in the wind and his arrow glowed eerily. Azula was blasted backward. The flame that was supposed to attack him was forcibly pushed aside by the air he was swiftly surrounding his body with. He actually knew what he was doing. He felt the fire burning up within him. Bursting it out in all directions, fire blew and it burned the ropes off his friends.

"RETREAT!" The Fire Nation soldiers had given up.

By the time all of their enimies were making a run for it, Azula was still there, a bit battered but standing. Aang's eyes lost their glow. He fell to the ground and Katara ran to catch him. "Uhh..." Aang made a weak sound exit. He stood slowly and they did he same. Azula looked at him.

"This is not over. But for now, Avatar enjoy your defeat." Oddly, she jumped off the cliff, landing on a ledge and meeting up with Mai and Ty Lee.  
-  
"Are you okay?" Sokka, Katara and Toph were hovering over him with Appa flying and Iroh steering and the earth king sitting in the far back. He nodded. "I-I'm fine." He smiled.

Katara hugged him and Toph playfully slapped him on the back.

"OUCH!" She had hit the lightning strike bruise.

She looked a little nervous. "Oh," Toph said with a weak smile, "Heh heh. Sorry about that Twinkle Toes." They turned into the sunset. It had been a long day and the rays of sunshine penetrated the clouds which had recently lost their gray tinge.

Sokka turned to the rest of the group, a happy expression on his face. "I guess it's smooth sailing to Omashu now."  
-  
Zuko was walking to the gate made of earth in Omashu. He made a slight smirk appear on his face. His plan was about to ensue. He had just heard the news that the Avatar was headed here from a couple of Dai Li agents who just came back with news.

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**AN: Sorry it took like A MONTH to update, but here you go anyways. I hoped you liked it! R&R!  
The next chapter is...drum roll please...  
Chapter 6- The Resistance**


	6. The Resistance

**Disclaimer- I do not own Avatar.**

_**

* * *

**_

_**Previously, on Avatar…**_

_"What do you__ want__ Azula?" Katara shouted with a stern tone. _

_Aang held onto his staff even tighter now. He knew there was something that was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. _

_She narrowed her eyes. "Look, I don't have time for your questions, __girl__. But I do have a proposal." _

_-__cut__ to __Azula's response__-_

_"Give me Iroh and I'll be off. I will completely avoid you." _

_-__cut__ to__ Aang being fired at and the gang being caught-_

_Suddenly, a terrible electric noise coursed through the air, like a powerful crunch when it made contact.__The Avatar lay unconscious upon the ground. _

_Eyes widening, those who could see saw a terrible sight.__Toph turned her head toward the sound. "What the _**EFF**_ was that?!" Realizing what just happened, mostly because of Katara's and Sokka's yells ("AANG!"), she almost slapped herself. She felt the vibrations on the ground...didn't she? Struck hard with realization, she ran to the spot in full speed only to be ferociously grabbed by the arms by an unknown figure. _

_"That lightning must __of__ been a flare! __A __signal__ to the rest of the soldiers!"__ Iroh was in a fighting stance once again, arms up in front of his face. _

_-__cut__ to Aang being cornered by Azula-_

No. No. I have to fight. I can't, but I have to. What did Roku say?_He vaguely remembered, but then he thought of the people he loved that were about to witness him being __pel__te__d__ by a fireball. He thought of them being hurt. He needed a way to do this. He needed a way to defeat her. If he didn't, she would win...the whole world would lose and his friends would pay the price for even knowing him. _

_Forcing __himself__ to try and__ remember, he finally heard a sort of ringing of voices inside his head. _

"Yes, but you have to understand. Even though you were struck in the Avatar State, you were indeed saved. But because of the seriousness of the injury, you will not be able to enter the state till you have to. And when I say this, more of forced to."

_He finally understood what he had to do. He was being __**forced**__ into the Avatar State. Aang closed his eyes in a tight frustration as Azula's fireball neared his face and he was bracing himself for impact. And it did make contact. __**KABOOM**_

_-__cut__ to Zuko-_

_Zuko was walking to the gate made of earth in Omashu. He made a slight smirk appear on his face. His plan was about to ensue. He had just heard the news that the Avatar was headed here from a couple of Dai Li agents who just came back with news._

* * *

"We're bound south. If we follow this small mountain range till this point, we'll make it to Omashu in at least one day. Then we could drop off Appa at the peak of the hillside near the city, leaving us time to prepare some disguises before we head off towards the entrance."

Sokka was still stabbing his finger at the map that was outstretched beneath the eyes of those who were gazing at it (with an exception of Toph). He turned his head to look at Iroh and Toph with an expectant expression on his face, as if waiting for a great applauding noise to greet him for coming up with such a brilliant plan. Sokka hesitated for a bit but never let his eyes roam off those of his two companions who were currently pondering a decision in their heads.

"Won't Azula just follow us through to Omashu? It seems pretty obvious that she's intent on capturing Iroh over here," Toph pointed to the elder man beside her for emphasis, "And I'm well aware that she wants to bring Aang into some sort of custody before the Firelord."

Sokka nodded. He was half expecting this, but as he was just opening his mouth to respond, Iroh beat him to it.

"No. Azula is not foolish enough to go ahead of herself. She will not do anything drastic until the time is right. After all, a defeat as such as the one we managed to pull on her, is not the type to ignore. My niece _will_ gain more strength and try her hardest to make sure that we lose the battle the next time we come to stray in her path."

The Earth King turned his head toward the ensuing conversation as if agreeing. His bear, Bosco, made a noise that sounded more like a grumble. After all, it was late afternoon and they still hadn't even bothered to eat that tiniest scrap of food for lunch or since the fight between them and Azula earlier in the morning. By the looks of it, everyone was on the complete brink of starvation.

In the front of the slowly flying bison, on the furry head, Katara was making sure that Aang got his rest after their almost lost battle. Her hair splayed out before her face into the wind and she gave Aang a slight push as he attempted to yet again, sit up on his own. It seemed as if it were hopeless to put a stopper on the efforts the Avatar was heaving just to do something he'd normally do. Katara sighed another time. He wasn't going to give up. She had to admit that she admired his constant persistence, but nonetheless, wanted to make a commitment to let him at least lie on his back for five minutes. With a one last strain of breath, she gave up and Aang was finally allowed to sit up. He looked immensely determined.

"Aang, you can't do this to yourself. It's only been at least three weeks since Ba Sing Se and you've been fighting alongside us against Azula when we all know that you should still be resting!" Katara was now caressing a worried appearance on her face and her eyes seemed to slightly water, but rapidly began to dry.

"Katara, we don't have much time. I need to do this," his gaze lingered on her for a while, "…even if it involves taking risks. You have to understand. Please."

A gentle breeze swept their path in the sky and Appa gave a slight jolt.

"I-" Katara hesitated more with her than with replying to Aang. "I understand. I understand that you have a job to do as Avatar, but that doesn't mean you have to make it hard on yourself!"

Aang stared at her. "I'm not. I am doing what's best for the world."

"But what about what is best for you?" Katara said.

"It doesn't matter. There are things more important than my health. I feel fine and well enough to fight. That should be enough. Besides, I'm not fighting this battle alone." Katara smiled at him and he continued, "This war has been pursuing for a little more than a century already! Isn't that far too long? I need to do something to stop it and the only way is to stop the Firelord."

Katara could not help herself. She got up more from the fur of the flying bison and nudged her way closer to where Aang sat upright. As she got closer, however, her arms began to raise forward and gave out a soothing embrace around his chest. Aang felt excruciatingly content with himself and with life as he knew it at that very moment.

-

Gentle streaks of sunrise echoed throughout the horizon and orange rays touched each cloud on its edges. The morning had arrived with an unusual call of beauty. Every head was bowed with sleep on the back of the flying bison and incredibly annoying snores were heard coming from the mouth of Sokka.

As the day grew steadily older, the first to wake was Aang. He sat up with some effort, glancing at those who were still asleep behind him. His stormy eyes held a brief glance on the first person he could think of, Katara. He slowly brushed a hand against his head that was now full of hair, and watched as the wind ruffled the undone braid onto her face.

He heard a soft growling sound that had to come from Appa. Aang smiled and petted his friend on the swishing, unkempt fur directly on its head.

Slowly, but steadily, the rest of the gang awoke and the silhouette of Omashu shone on the horizon. They had arrived at long last.

Sokka extended his forefinger and pointed enthusiastically at the approaching shadow. "YES! WE MADE IT! WE'RE HERE! _Finally_, decent food!"

"Oh be quiet Snoozles," Toph stated with a sigh, "You've been dozing off longer than we have and all you can think about is food?"

"Maybe."

"You're hopeless. You know that?" She groaned and carefully turned her back on him.

Iroh quietly smiled at the shadow of Omashu. "We should begin flying over the ledges so we may have the element of surprise in case Fire Nation troops spot us. We need to be as safe and secure as possible at the moment."

Sokka and Aang nodded in agreement. Sokka took hold of Appa's reigns and he veered the bison to the left so that they may have the cover of the same mountains where The Cave of Two Lovers stood.

In almost no time at all, the whole group landed softly in a high up forest on the side of a mountain. Quietly, they all dismounted and made their way across to the city of Omashu. Just a few meters away from the end of the forest, The Earth King and Bosco made their way in the opposite direction. Kuei decided to travel in disguise with his bear and live a life of frugal living and in hiding until the war could possibly be over.

As the rest of the group made their way to Omashu, the silhouette of the city constantly grew larger before their eyes. It was an intimidating site. By the time they reached refuge, Aang was already prying the door to the sewer open and Katara stepped inside first, along with Toph, then Sokka, Iroh, and lastly Aang. Careful not to make any sound, all of them decided that bending away the water wasn't an option. Instead, they stepped carefully and silently through, making no sound but the soft splashes underneath their feet.

Finally, it was time to exit the hole. Aang slowly tugged on the metal door and swiveled the lever around. One by one, they stepped out, shaking the nasty water off their clothes as Katara helped by waterbending the unpleasant substance to the ground.

It was quiet. Not a single breath was heard, nor a swish of the wind. All was still, and silent. The group's footsteps gently echoed through the darkness and they all saw, or felt (just for Toph) that the city was still deserted ever since their last encounter.

They kept walking around, trying not to make sudden movements or noises, until a loud crash rang through the empty streets.

Toph swiftly turned her head. "Guys…"**BANG**"GUYS!"Another noise, then movement sparked their senses. Toph quickly got into a fighting stance, and everyone else followed suit when they saw what she had done. "I-I don't think we're alone anymore."

A shadow began to emerge from the distance behind a pillar and a couple of scattered barrels and a figure began to form. Aang shot out his staff in front of him as he watched it come out slowly.

It moved towards them until those who could see saw his face: the face of Zuko. His scar shone in the setting sun and his eyes glistened in their natural golden glow, but his face was staid.

It was then when Katara made her move, and struck. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred as she brought out a handful but powerful amount of water from her pouch.

Everyone else in the little group gasped as Zuko hit the side of another pillar; _hard_.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Katara still controlled some part of the leftover water save for the small amount hovering before her. "You know we'd never trust you. Not after what you had done to us underneath Ba Sing Se!"

Surprisingly, the Dragon of the West had made no sound or move. He just stood there, staring at his nephew and he was clearly still disappointed in his actions.

The water bender's facial features grew all the more stern when he showed no signs of answering. "_Well?_"

His face now serious after the hit, he got up unhurriedly from his fallen position and turned to face her with a seemingly unfazed expression. He sighed, "I'm here to help."

Sokka took out his boomerang and pointed its edge towards the fire bender's torso. "That's a lie! You're just here to come and attack us again! What would possibly make us believe you after all that you have done?"

"I've changed!" Zuko was now becoming desperate. Why couldn't they believe him?

It was Katara's turn to come back into the conversation, "Don't give me that again. The last time you said that to me, it cost us and the whole world _big time_." She paused, glancing at Aang and then turned her gaze back towards the prince. "I'm sorry Zuko, but I just can't trust you."

"I-I could help with firebending."

As Sokka, Katara, and Aang began to turn their backs on him, Toph cried out, "No. Wait. He's telling the truth. I can tell."

Iroh still hadn't moved, but was surprised to hear what he just heard from the little blind earth bender standing near him. He widened his eyes and tried to nod for her to continue.

"He is sincere with what he said. He is in no way lying."

That was all Aang needed; he turned to Zuko and asked, "Is this true?"

His face brightened up ever so slightly and nodded his head 'yes'. The Avatar's features softened and he smiled. "Welcome to the group."

A ripple of amazement coursed through the group of friends. How could he accept so quickly? Was there another motive of his?

"Wha-? Aang? Do you know what you just did? You let in one of our enemies into the group! What are you trying to do? Get us killed?" Sokka had tried to reason with his best friend as well as he could, but nothing seemed to change Aang's drastic decision.

"Trust me," he simply replied, "I know what I am about to do."

He turned his head to his firebending master, "Master?" The old man just nodded as a reply."I am sure that you would need to…um…look for our little groups of friends?" Everyone else was clearly confused, but Aang and Iroh obviously knew what they were talking about.

"Yes, Avatar. I think it is time I should begin. I shall depart tomorrow at dawn."

What was going on? If Iroh was about to leave so soon, then Aang would need a new firebending teacher. Unless…"Wait a minute." Katara twisted her cap back on to her pouch after quickly bending her water back inside. "If what you are saying is what I think you are saying, then that means…"

Her brother decided to finish the sentence. "Zuko is your new firebending master!"

Zuko's eyes widened and Aang merely said that he was correct. "Did you have this planned out all along?" Sokka had to admit that he was curious.

He smirked, "Let's just say the Dragon of the West told me a few things over a little game of Pai Sho."

It really couldn't get any weirder than that, the Water Tribe warrior mused. If that was all he could get out of his friend, then that was all he could get out. They might as well continue looking for the resistance now. He smiled and went back to walking in the other direction and the others just shrugged along with it and trailed behind him, but Zuko still stood in the same spot, transfixed.

"Nephew?" Iroh beamed at him. "Are you coming or do you want me to make you a pot of tea?"

A new light lit up the banished prince's eyes. He was officially accepted. There was truly nothing that could make him happier at the moment, but to give his uncle a long awaited 'thank you'.

-

It had been at least an hour's long walk down the streets of Omashu. There was still not a single sign of life and there was not a flicker of a lantern inside a home or shop. Where could everyone be?

"I think we've been out here walking long enough," Toph said with an exasperated sigh. "No one's here. I'm getting fed up with all this traveling, and as far as I can feel…there really is no resistance at all. Really the only living thing we found here is Zuko over here." Funnily enough, she pointed her hand at a random cart full of rotting cabbages, just past Zuko's head. Katara sneered.

"Toph is right. There really is nothing here. We might as well...AH!" The warrior jumped when a flash of fire landed before his very feet and the rest of the gang readied themselves for some sort of ambush battle.

Standing ominously in front of them, were three Fire Nation soldiers with horrible skull-like masks covering their faces.

"TOPH! How could you not sense them?"

She leapt from her spot when she felt a flame being shot at her and brought up a small wall of earth. "I'm sorry okay? I guess I was getting a bit cranky from all the walking!"

Aang jumped in front of Katara when one fireball was fired to her and he blocked it with a blast of air. "You guys! Now really isn't the time to argue! We have to get out of here!"

With that, he knocked all three off their feet with more airbending and started to run right past them with everyone else at his heels. "HURRY! Let's get out of the city!"

More fire blasts hit the sides of houses and some just barely missed them as they continued to run as fast as they could. Zuko and Iroh were constantly blowing some attacks aside as Aang concentrated on getting them out. It was really a wonderful feat that none of them got tired, but adrenaline took over their bodies and none of them would be stupid enough to stop just for a little break.

All of them halted when they got near the entrance wall of Omashu and Aang and Toph promptly burst a hole through the side of the wall. Running out was easy enough, until they had to find a way to keep the soldiers in.

Aang nodded his head to Iroh and Zuko, all three discharged powerful gusts of fire to the troops and Toph closed up the wall.

The group was tired and they were sweating and gasping for air by the time it was all over.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Well that was almost a complete waste of time."

"At least we found a new ally, Sokka." The Blind Bandit smirked in the general direction of Zuko, who was standing about to the right of her.

He frowned. "I despise you right now."

Aang laughed. "C'mon guys. If we can't find any help here, we might as well find your dad at Chameleon Bay or something. We need help for this, and wasting our time here won't do us any good. But the only question is what were those Fire Nation soldiers doing there without any backup?"

"I have reason to believe that the Fire Nation still occupy the city, even if we did drive out the citizens with a fake epidemic of 'penta-pox'." The water bender smiled a little at the idea, but Toph, Zuko, and Iroh all seemed confused. "Long story," she added as she chanced a hateful glance at Zuko and gave him an eye roll.

They walked forward and off of the bridge connecting the city of Omashu with the rest of the land. All of them traveled to the edge of a set of hills that were close by where all of them except Zuko knew that Appa was. But when they finally reached the spot where the giant beast supposedly laid, he wasn't there save for a couple of crushed sticks and some uneven sand.

"Something isn't right." They turned to Toph, who had a worried expression upon her face.

The ground rumbled beneath their feet and they turned frantically around to find the source, but none was found. Suddenly, the ground flipped them over and the group landed in a heap on the bottom of an underground facility.

There familiar faces surrounding Aang, Sokka, and Katara, and some unfamiliar faces and vibrations to Toph, Zuko, And Iroh.

One of the Earth Kingdom combatants, almost clearly the leader, stepped forward.

"Welcome to the resistance."

* * *

**AN: And finally I update! It's been how many months? I seriously had absolutely NO TIME. With school, and all these happenings, but I have more time on my hands now and can update more regularly. I feel so bad now. But I promise you that this story will be done before May. It needs to end before the summer because the series will end soon. Oh gosh. I made myself depressed now.**

**And if you have any questions, please do tell. And just to clear things up, I do plan this all out before the even write a whole story. Trust me; I know what is going to happen next and at the end. But some parts were added in to make it make more sense with the actually story and season three.**


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